


Here There Be Dragons

by whitesilence



Series: The Multiverse Theory [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, dragon!Darcy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-26
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-17 10:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4663395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitesilence/pseuds/whitesilence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Didn’t think you meant it literally when you said you know what it’s like to have a monster inside.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Deal Breaker/Deal Maker

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [IBDC: Darcy Lewis Style](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4015399) by [moonstalker24](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonstalker24/pseuds/moonstalker24). 



> This little drabble was inspired by moonstalker24's version of dragon!Darcy. I've seen the concept around and really liked it so I decided to take it for a spin.

“Didn’t think you meant it literally when you said you know what it’s like to have a monster inside.” Bucky’s voice was filled with no small measure of awe.

Darcy laughed, the sound more of an ominous rumble than the crystal clear tones he was used to. He also wasn’t used to her being a shape shifting dragon the size of a small bus. 

“I am kind of literal like that.” she said, her voice also deeper and rougher than he was used to. 

He reached out a hand, hesitating just short of her nose as though asking permission. She snorted, smoke puffing out of her nostrils, before stretching her head forward to meet his palm. Her scales were an iridescent purple so dark they were almost black and felt smooth and slick to the touch, like a snake, only much, much warmer. He ran his hand up her nose and over her brow, stroking the ridges that ran along her temple and forehead. As he did, a noise like hissing but also like the roll of thunder could be heard and he looked up to see if storm clouds were gathering. The sky was clear and that was when he realized that the sound was coming from Darcy.

 _Dragons purr!_ he thought in amazement.

“So. This going to be a deal breaker?” Darcy asked, pulling back to sit on her haunches, wings tucked and tail curling neatly around her feet. They’d been dancing around each other for months now, the rest of the team nearly fed up with their flirting. More than one had told him to just ask Darcy out already (most notably Clint) but every time he tried to, something came up that needed her attention and she would smile apologetically before dashing off to handle whatever the situation was.

He looked around at the smoldering bodies clad in what had once been Hydra uniforms strewn across the helipad and the smoking wreckage of a crashed helicopter on the roof of one of the shorter buildings below. They had gotten so close to dragging him back, the helicopter inches from touching down before it had been blasted out of the sky by a ball of flame.

“Well, doll, if you’ll be my back up, I’d say it’s more of a deal maker.”

She laughed again. “I think I can handle that.”

“In that case, what do dragons do for dates?”

He didn’t think it would be possible for a dragon to blush but Darcy managed to do it.


	2. Hoard/Horde

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "He knew dragons were strange but he’d never expected this."
> 
> Story has been renamed since it's multiple chapters now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugghh, you all suck. But like in a totally awesome way. I really wanted to be working on something else but I've never gotten a response to a story like I have with this one. So here, have some more. 
> 
> Timeline wise, this is after their first date. I have no idea what Bucky did for that. Feel free to give me suggestions either here or on [tumblr](http://whitesilenceinthesnow.tumblr.com/).

Darcy took him to the Metropolitan Museum. More specifically, the wing filled with weapons and armor from ancient Egypt to the modern era. She showed him each piece and told him in great detail, the history and provenance of that exact item or one just like it. She cooed over old favorites, decried the state of anything not in pristine condition and made many abortive gestures towards the display cases as though she wanted to pet whatever was inside. 

As a human, her behavior would have been called obsessive and weird but since she was in actuality a centuries old mythical reptile, Bucky didn’t worry about it over much. Instead, he enjoyed her excitement and expertise on the subject and let her lead him around the museum by the arm. 

It wasn’t until later that he realized she had been holding his left arm, that wasn’t at all unusual since women traditionally stood to a gentleman’s left, but it was a bit unusual for a woman to stroke his arm the way Darcy had. He held his hand up and realized that all of the metal plates that had been exposed to her fingers were nearly blinding in their shininess. He quickly pulled his sleeve back down to cover them up before someone noticed.  


~*~

  


He asked her about it the next time he caught her stroking his arm while they watched an episode of Hoarders in the common living room.

“Darcy?”

“Hmmm?”

“What are you doing?”

“Huh?”

“My arm.”

She looked down and saw the shiny spot she had polished into the metal and blushed. “Do you want me to stop?”

“Not really. It’s just… not very tactical?”

Darcy laughed a little. “Bucky, it’s a robotic metal arm. It was never going to be stealthy.”

“I am very stealthy.” he protested. He tried to pull his arm back but Darcy had wrapped herself around it and he found himself lifting her off the couch like a dumbbell instead.

“I don’t doubt it but it’s shiny and… and… and I can’t help myself!” she whined. “It’s so pretty and shiney and-”

“And what?” he asked. Darcy pouted and turned her face away like a petulant three year old, still clutching his arm. 

“And what?” He shook his arm, more to gain her attention than to dislodge her. 

Darcy gave a muffled hiss and got to her feet. “Come on. I supposed you’re going to see it eventually. Now’s as good a time as any.”

Intrigued, he rose and followed her back to her apartment and into the walk in closet in her bedroom.

Which apparently opened into another, larger room filled with immaculate and pristine weapons of every type and purpose from nearly every era of human civilization. He knew dragons were strange but he’d never expected this.

“Welcome to my hoard.” she said, pride and nervousness warring in her voice. “This is only some of it. Most of it’s in storage back home.”

He turned around, gaping at the the breadth of her collection. “You collect weapons?”

“Yes, but not just that.” she walked over to a crossbow displayed on the wall. “The stories that go with them too. Like, this crossbow belonged to a queen of England. I was only half a century old when I got it.”

“Did you know all of the people who owned these?” Bucky asked.

Darcy smiled. “A lot of them, yeah. The ones made before the sixteenth century, not so much. Weapons are just things, it’s the person that used them that makes them really special.”

She moved to the next displays, running her fingers lovingly as she told him about each one. His eyes might be playing tricks on him but he could have sworn each piece she touched was just a bit shinier and cleaner than before. “This pistol belonged to an American spy during the Revolutionary War. And that sword was owned by a pirate known as the Terror of the South China Sea. That sword cane was used by a doctor who was injured in Afghanistan.”

“And what about me? Are you just… just after my arm?” he asked, defensively.

Darcy blinked as she turned to face him fully, a slow reptilian motion that seemed to bend the fabric of reality around her and reminded him of what she really was. How easily she could just pluck his arm off and fly away with it if she wanted it.

“No.” she said, a note of finality in her tone.

“I know the stories of everything in this room not just because I like shiny things but because they belonged to my friends.” She moved to stand in front of him, placing surprisingly gentle hands on his shoulders. “You are my friend, first and foremost. Dragons may be greedy, selfish things but I don’t own anything that was not freely given.”

“I think having my arm around would be kind of creepy.” he said with an eyebrow raised.

She giggled, bouncing up onto her toes to kiss him on the cheek. “It’s not your arm I’m after. I rather like your rifle better.”


	3. Fight/Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“A dragon?!” he yelled. “What the fuck is next? Unicorns?”_  
>  Darcy meets Sam.

Darcy didn’t make it out to the Avenger’s training facility as often as she liked but when she did, she took every opportunity to stretch her wings and fly as much as possible. Sometimes, Clint or Natasha would be conducting a training flight in a quinjet and she would fly with them, darting in to flame their practice targets or dart around them or otherwise cause mischief.

But today she was flying alone, amusing herself by riding thermals, large columns of warm air, up above the clouds and then diving back down to skim through a nearby lake. She was making friends with a curious osprey when she heard the sound of aircraft engines coming over the horizon. Looking around she saw a tiny figure racing towards the base, pursued by a larger plane with unknown markings. Thinking it was Iron Man in trouble, she changed course and flew to intercept.

Only it wasn’t Iron Man, it was a dark skinned man wearing a jetpack with wings. She quickly realized that this must be Sam Wilson. She hadn’t met the Airman turned Avenger yet so she knew little about him. But she did know that he was good friends with Steve and Bucky and if he was a friend of theirs, then he was a friend of hers. And it looked like he was in trouble.

She pushed for altitude until she was above the pursuing aircraft, neither of the combatants having noticed her approach. Tucking her wings, she dived. Just before she hit, she spit out a fireball, obscuring the pilot’s view of Darcy crashing into him dead on and knocking him out of the sky. She watched the plane fall in a flaming wreck to the forest below before looking around for the Avenger.

He was hovering not far away and when he realized she was eyeing him, he turned tail and fled. She caught up with him easily though, the wingpack, unlike the Iron Man armor, not able to break the sound barrier.

“A dragon?!” he yelled. “What the fuck is next? Unicorns?”

“Hey, it’s alright! I’m friends with Steve and Bucky!” she shouted back over the wind. “And unicorns were assholes! Good riddance!”

He was about to reply when the engine on the wingpack coughed, cutting out for a heartstopping second before sputtering to life. Darcy wasn’t sure if it was damaged or running out of fuel.

“Can you land on my back?” she asked him.

“What?!” 

“Land on my back. I’ll take you to base.”

He looked like he was about to refuse but the wingpack cut out again, this time not reviving and she dove to catch him in her claws.

Darcy carried him the rest of the way, dropping him gently on the helipad on the roof before circling around to land. She shifted back to human form just as her feet touched down, smiling at his wide eyed expression.

“Hi, I’m Darcy.”

“Uh huh, yup. Steve’s friend.” He pulled his goggles off and scrubbed a hand over his face. “Holy shit, you’re an actual, honest to god dragon. I didn’t think he was being literal.”

Darcy laughed. “Well to be fair, most people don’t.”

He shook himself before holding out his hand. “Sorry, I’m being rude. Sam Wilson, thanks for the save back there.”

“Not a problem.” She gave his hand a hearty shake. “So, who was it that was chasing you?”

“Just some idiots from AIM trying to get my wings. I was out for a training flight when I ran into those guys.”

“Well I’m glad I was in the area then. I was going to just drop off a few things that Thor asked for from the Tower but it was such a nice day out, I couldn’t help myself.”

“It is good flying weather, isn’t it? But speaking of the Tower…” Sam pulled the wing pack off and laid it out on the ground to inspect while Darcy looked on with great interest. There was some scorching up the side of the pack and many of the metal feathers that made up the wings were broken or bent. A quick check showed that there was still plenty of fuel left in the fuel cells but opening the engine casing revealed a sooty black cloud and a pop of sparks. 

“I’m not much of a mechanic.” Sam tugged at his ear with embarrassment. “You uh, think you can take it to Tony for repairs when you go?”

“Only if you promise to fly with me when you get them back.”

“Absolutely!”

~*~

“This is not what I had in mind when you asked me to fly with you.” Sam said, six weeks later. He was once again hanging from her claws as they soared over a mountain range in the dead of night towards a suspected Hydra base. She adjusted her grip on his harness, determined to put him in as perfect a fall trajectory as she could manage.

Darcy shushed him loudly, moonlight glinting off her slit pupiled eyes when she bent her head down to look at him. “We’re supposed to be stealthy right now. How are we supposed to be stealthy if you keep talking?”

Tony had fixed the wingpack and even upgraded it to run on the same kind of arc reactor powered repulsors as his armor. But even though the repulsors were quieter than the engines that it had been equipped with previously, it still wasn’t quiet enough for this mission. Taking a quinjet had been ruled out immediately so Darcy, being the ultimate in stealth transportation with her draconian invisibility magic, had been recruited to help with the infiltration.

“Let’s have some noise discipline from both of you, please.” Steve sighed from where he and Bucky were clinging to her back. The mountain stronghold they were targeting was coming up fast and she could feel his body tense as he prepared to fall into thin air. Bucky, on the other hand, was completely relaxed having spent the entire flight stroking her iridescent scales. She supposed he would be more comfortable. They had practiced this a few times whereas this was Steve's first flight with her.

“Thirty seconds to mark,” Bucky said, calmly.

“Right, well this is your stop. Ready, Sam?”

“What if I say no?” he asked.

“Too bad.” 

At Bucky’s mark, she released Sam and executed a barrel roll, dumping Steve and Bucky off her back and immediately angled upwards, fighting for as much altitude and speed as she could get. Below her, the three men pulled their parachutes and soon disappeared into the trees as they landed. 

“Have fun storming the castle! Call me when you’re ready for the big guns!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, my hand slipped and this came out. There will probably be one or two more parts about the other Avengers but I make no promises. You could probably help by making suggestions as to what you want to see. I'm also on [tumblr](http://whitesilenceinthesnow.tumblr.com) if you'd rather talk to me there.


	4. Sooner/Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was inspecting the shield with a dragon’s eye for treasure when Steve asked, half teasing, “Gonna try to steal it for your hoard?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still working on "And Wasteland All Around Us" but this came out first. Life has just been... fan-fucking-tastic so I haven't really felt a whole lot of motivation to do any writing for the past few months. Until yesterday. This chapter has been sitting around for a bit and I finally figured out how to finish it. This story was totally supposed to be something fun and lighthearted but as always, I just can't keep things from devolving into the angst. Hope you all can forgive me and enjoy it anyway. :-/

Steve was sitting in the common living room, watching a baseball game while he cleaned his shield. It was splattered with ichor from the alien life form of their last battle that had dried harder than cement. He had tried everything he could think of until finally resorting to using a knife to scrape it off. Cleaning the shield wasn't an altogether uncommon thing for him to do. Bucky just isn't sure how he’d never noticed Darcy very nearly drooling over the thing before.

"You alright, Darcy?"

She was standing just out of sight in the hallway outside the living room, twisting her hands in the hem of her shirt. 

"It's so pretty,” she said, her voice almost a whine. “And I could make it so shiny."

Darcy finally looked up then and saw the grin spreading across his face. She lunged at him but he was already dancing backwards out of the way. 

"Hey Stevie!," he called into the living room.

"Yeah Buck?" Steve grumbled.

"Wanna let Darcy polish your shield for a bit?"

Darcy’s face went as red as a tomato as she yelled, "BUCKY!"

After Bucky led her on a merry chase through the living room and after she nearly crashed into the massive television, Steve was convinced to hand over his shield before anything could be knocked over or broken. They settled into the couches, Steve turning back to the baseball game while Bucky left and came back with his rifle and cleaning gear. Darcy made quick work of the bloody shield and, with a little magic and dragon song, had even repaired the corrosion from the alien blood that had started eating into the vibranium. Sam and Clint and even Tony eventually wandered in and joined them in front of the television. 

She was inspecting the shield with a dragon’s eye for treasure when Steve asked, half teasing, “Gonna try to steal it for your hoard?”

“I don’t steal,” Darcy frowned, not lifting her gaze from the metal disk. “Besides, the world’s not ready to lose Captain America yet.”

Tony huffed from where he was sprawled inelegantly on the loveseat across from the two super soldiers. “Way the world’s going, Steve’s work will never be done.”

Darcy twisted to look up at him. Her eyebrow lifted and though she was curled on a cushion on the floor below him, hugging the shield to her chest, Tony had the distinct impression he was staring up at a dragon the size of a small bus. One that was reading the back of his skull with eyes like fire and found him wanting. 

“Just making a witty observation.” 

“Steve is more than Captain America, the same way you are more than Iron Man.” she said, her voice turning soft and sibilant. “The mantle can be set down and picked up by another. You are only as weighted down as you allow yourself to be.”

Tony didn’t seem to know what to say, so wisely said nothing for once. Crossing his arms and staring down at the coffee table, looking for all the world like a petulant child. Everyone else turned back to the game, content to think that the incident was over but Steve was no longer focusing on the television, instead staring out the window behind it. 

The game had ended and Darcy was handing him the shield by the time he spoke again. “I want you to have it when I’m done.”

He didn’t have to explain what he meant. “It’ll be a long time before that happens.”

“Maybe.” Steve shrugged, an attempt at a nonchalance that Darcy wasn’t entirely convinced he felt. “But I’d like to know it’ll be in good hands whenever that may be.”

“You have my word as a dragon then.” Darcy smiled with too many teeth.

~*~

Much later, in the one room in the tower where she could actually fit comfortably while wearing her true form, Darcy lay with Bucky on a nest of squashy cushions. It was quiet and dark, the only light came from a tiny gap in the curtains covering the floor to ceiling windows. He leaned against Darcy’s massive ribcage, stroking her smooth iridescent scales while her tail twitched in time with his hand and thunder rumbled in her chest. They spent most nights like this, Darcy curled protectively around him while he finally relaxed enough to sleep without fear of hurting someone when he had nightmares.

“What’s eating you?” Darcy asked softly.

“Nuthin’...”

“Something’s bothering you.” She snorted. “You’re all tense.”

Bucky was quiet for so long she thought he’d fallen asleep anyway and Darcy was about to doze off herself when he finally asked, “What did you mean earlier? About only being as weighted down as you wanted to be?”

She shifted so she could set her head down next to his hip, lifting her front leg to tuck him closer to the side of her neck. She settled deeper into the cushions with a sigh and regarded him with one giant eye. There had been a time when Bucky had also felt like she was reading the inside of his skull but she never seemed to find him wanting and the feeling had eventually passed.

“You know how much baggage people carry around.” she said, her voice soft in the darkness. “I think, sometimes, they should set it down for a while and remember what life was like without it.”

“You think… Tony?”

“Mmmhmm.” She hummed. “And sometimes Steve… and Thor… and you.”

He shifted to sprawl in the small space between her leg and her neck, relaxing against the warmth of her bulk. He lay for a long time in the darkness, thinking about what she’d said and imagining what it would be like to get out from under the Winter Soldier’s shadow and be just Bucky again, before finally drifting off to sleep.


End file.
